Kits, Cats, and Ryu
by Oni Meno Kage
Summary: RanmaReccaNaruto Crossover. First fanfic, R&R. Chap 1 is really a prologue, but chapt 2 is much longer.
1. Kits, Cats, and Ryu Chapter 1: Betrayed

Ranma/Recca/Naruto Crossover  
  
Betrayed.  
  
I never knew the degree that one could feel this emotion. A coiling serpent inside my soul, pushing me further and further into the depths of despair. I no longer care about my fiancées, family, or life. My sole focus is escape. I have been betrayed by all those who were dear to me. Me. Ranma Saotome, heir to the Saotome school of Anything Goes Martial Arts and Godslayer. Make that Ruroni Ranma, former heir to the Saotome School of Anything Goes. With my refusal to commit seppuku after the wedding fiasco, after all if one can't even get married without problems one can't be a man amongst men, my moth... Nodoka removed me from the Saotome registry. With no name I had nothing left, my fiancées left me happy to be rid of the obligation, my rivals gloated over my misfortune, and my honor was gone. I was summarily booted from the Tendo house, and turned to the one person who had any compassion for me in their heart. Kuh Lon. You probably thought she was the last person who I could turn to, but do you really think that I would get away with all the insults to her and the training in Amazon secrets if she didn't care at least a little. With Xian Pu's mission to kill or marry Ranma Saotome finished however, the Amazons needed to return to China. She waited just long enough to give me a set of black crystal bracers, and a warning. "Leave as fast as possible, for without a name Japan will be a very hostile place." Then she was gone. This brings me back to now. Standing at the edge of a pier surrounded by a sickly yellow-green aura extending five feet in every direction. Did I mention how I don't care anymore? As I sink farther and farther into depression, My Aura grows larger and larger until I reach the very bottom of my soul. Putting all my gathered Chi into a better than perfect Shi Shi Hadoken I fire it into the sea. This caused a strange effect to occur, as soon as I let go of the energy it ripped a hole in the very fabric of existence and pulled me through. The last thing I remember is seeing another raven haired kid get pulled in halfway down the tunnel, then whiteness. 


	2. Kits, Cats, and Ryu Chapter 2: Hidden Ci...

Disclaimer: Sorry I forgot to put this into Chap 1, but I own none of these, in fact I have probably taken some ideas from other fanfic writers, but I have read so much that I can't remember for sure. If you feel like suing me, go ahead, but I must warn you my third bank account just closed for over drafting, I recently stopped going to a university and thus will be in debt for the rest of my life, and it will cost you far more to actually sue me than you have any hope of receiving. Once again and work inserted here is not mine and is the property of its respective owner. Anything not claimed is mine.  
  
Chapter 2  
  
Hidden City of the Animals  
  
The scene opens on a forest clearing; two raven haired boys are lying unconscious being watched over by a blond haired boy.  
  
"Hey, wake up" the blond boy orders as he begins to shake the closer of the two. "WAKE UP!"  
  
The sleeping boy shot off the ground and landed about five feet away in a ready stance.  
  
"Huh. where am I? Who are you, and who is that?" he asks gesturing to the figure on the ground.  
  
"My name is Naruto Uma. just Naruto." The blond states.  
  
"I am Ranma, and like you it is just Ranma."  
  
As they are introducing themselves, the figure on the ground begins to stir.  
  
"We must leave this area quickly," informs Naruto "it is ground protected by the hidden leaf. Let us carry him until we are safely off their lands."  
  
"Sounds like a plan," Ranma picks up the other figure in a fireman's carry "lead the way."  
  
As they run through the trees, the third boy wakes up and introduces himself as Recca. After a few more hours of running Naruto stops the little group. They look around and see that they are nearing the edge of the forest, and can see a looming mountain directly in front of them, with the forest stopping about a half mile in any direction around it.  
  
"This is the edge of the land protected by the Konoha; we are now entering lands not under any of the ninja group's jurisdiction."  
  
"Lets find shelter for the night and then we can exchange stories," Recca replies "there is sure to be a cave in that mountain."  
  
The boys run for the mountain searching for any signs of inhabitants or possible shelter. As they are nearing the mountain, the sky begins to cloud over and peals of thunder are heard.  
  
"Run, run faster," yells Ranma as he takes off faster than either of the other boys had thought possible.  
  
The boys arrive at a cave just before the rain starts.  
  
"That was close" mumbles Ranma; luckily the others were not paying attention, "looks like we are camping here for the night, so we might as well get started. My name was Ranma Saotome, heir to the Saotome school of Anything Goes martial arts. It all started when I was five an' my pop decided to take me on a training trip."  
  
Two hours later  
  
". and then I woke up here."  
  
The others looked at him wide eyed.  
  
"So you say you turn into a girl with cold water and back with hot? That sucks man."  
  
"Wow, you must be great to have killed a god." Naruto says, clearly awestricken. He then begins to tell his tale. ".Well, I just recently found out that I hold a fox demon inside me, and that is why I have been unaccepted all my life. My life goal was to become the Hokage, but it doesn't look like that will happen now. I ran away from the village when my teacher, Iruka, the one person I trusted, claimed me to be the demon fox."  
  
"Well it sounds like none of us have had it easy," intones Recca he then goes on to explain Kurei, the Hokage clan, and his mother. ".the only way we could think of to allow her to die was for her to retransport me through time, but I guess Ranmas vortex got mixed with mine and dropped us here."  
  
"Since we are here, why don't we try to make the best of it" Ranma suggested  
  
"But what can we do, we know nothing of this world."  
  
At this Naruto got an Idea, "hey guys, why don't we create our own Ninja sect. since we all have animal spirits inside us we can be the Hidden Animal village."  
  
"Yea, I bet if we worked at it we could learn a lot from each other, we could even base it at this very mountain."  
  
"But Ranma it would take decades to carve this into habitable living space." Recca argued "Not using the Bakusai Tenketsu it wouldn't, and luckily I watched Ryoga train in it."  
  
"Something tells me I won't like this technique very much" Recca groans.  
  
"I can learn a new technique? Let's start first thing in the morning." Naruto says excitedly.  
  
"Then I suggest we get some sleep, 'cause tomorrow is going to be a long day."  
  
The next morning Naruto and Recca awoke to the sound of Ranma grunting in frustration. When they left the cave to check on him they found he had somehow tied himself up so that only his index finger could be moved, across from him a boulder was tied hanging from a limb.  
  
"About time you woke up, I just finished getting set up." Ranma stated matter of factly.  
  
"Set up for what?" queried Naruto  
  
"Training of course, now pull the rope attached to that boulder and when I say, let it go."  
  
"But won't it hurt when it smashes into you; I mean that thing must weigh a ton."  
  
"That's the point; this isn't just taught to learn how to blow stuff up, but also to toughen up the body."  
  
Recca and Naruto just shrug at this and begin pulling the boulder back.  
  
"Ok, let go."  
  
They let go and wince as it smashes into Ranma at full speed.  
  
"Again"  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"Yes"  
  
They begin the process again. It is repeated for the next three days, only stopping for food, until Ranma learns it. It takes another five for Recca and six for Naruto. With that done, they begin to discuss plans for their new city. With Recca's experience at hidden buildings, Naruto's knowledge of the Konoha village, and Ranma's knowledge of Phoenix Mountain, it is quickly decided that the to of the mountain will be carved out in a bowl shape to make room for a practice ground. Ranma takes care of this, while Recca and Naruto begin to create a network of passages and rooms. Recca then takes strides to disguise the entrances and exits so none can enter without knowing the correct protocol. A turning statue here, a trapdoor there, and before the month is up, the boys have a rather nice complex.  
  
"I heard that in a month the trials for Chuunin status will begin" Naruto explains one evening, "they are taking place at Konoha."  
  
"I think I have worked out a way to combine Jusenkyo's properties and that transformation technique you showed us, to allow us to take alternate forms with out the constant use of Chakra, Chi, or Ki. Mine is forced female for obvious reasons, but water will not have any effect on me any more, and you should be able to suitably alter your appearance so that none shall recognize you if you so choose."  
  
"No, I will not hide from them, as the leaders of our newborn clan; we have as much right as any to take the test."  
  
"Ranma don't you think we should take care of your little feline problem before going?" asks Recca.  
  
"I think I might have found a way, but I will need a few days in meditation, if this works out it might be able to put you two in touch with your animal sides as well."  
  
"Ok, until you are done then, we will not bother you. Ready for a spar Naruto?"  
  
"Anytime."  
  
One week later  
  
Recca and Naruto come back from their nightly spar to find a decidedly different Ranma waiting for them. He was still himself, but now he sported silver hair and his stormy blue eyes were now slit like a cats. Oh the fur, cat ears, tail, teeth, and claws were new too.  
  
"What happened to you?!" exclaimed Recca  
  
"I found the cat's spirit and merged with it, I can change back, I think." With that Ranma concentrated and he was once again back in his old body, but the silver hair remained. "Want to try it?"  
  
Another week passed and we see all three have become more feral looking. Recca has been covered in red scales similar to armor. His eyes are now lizard like, his hair fire red, he also has talons, and a tail. Naruto looks the least changed, he is covered in white fur, has blood red eyes, claws, and nine fox tails. With only two weeks before the test, they decide to shift back to human, and go to Konoha.  
  
Upon arriving they head to Naruto's old apartment, making sure to keep to the shadows and not be seen. No one has been in it since he left, in fact it seems that no one has noticed he left. This saddens him, until Ranma reminds him that they are going to prove their superiority to all the clans before this is over. Ranma then changes to girl form and goes to steal, I mean acquire clothing, unmarked forehead protectors, and food. When she gets back she returns to being male and changes to hybrid form. Then using his claws he marks the decided upon sigil into the protectors, a set of whiskers three in each direction. That finished, they divided up the clothing, black silk shirt and pants for Ranma, black ninja bodysuit for Recca, and a black jumpsuit for Naruto; all complete with Kung Fu slippers, and full length hooded cloaks. While Recca and Naruto changed, Ranma shifted to human female again and went to sign the team up. After nearly an hour of arguing, the testers decided it would be easier to allow them to compete and fail, then to continue arguing. After all no one had ever heard of the Hidden Animal village, and according to the girl it was just born, how good could they be? When Ranma left, she decided to take a look around the village. She began to jog and got in a lot of sightseeing, when she noticed the sun beginning to set. She ran back to the apartment, once again making sure not to be seen via the Umisenken's revised invisibility technique, no cloth needed and no energy can be detected.  
  
"Where have you been?" asked Naruto "I'm getting hungry and we have been waiting for hours."  
  
"Just gettin' a view of the area, calm down. We can go once I am in male form and we are all dressed."  
  
In no more than two seconds all three were fully dressed, cloaks and all, with protectors displayed over where their eyes would be if you could see through the cloak.  
  
"Why are we doing this again?" whined Naruto  
  
"Training" replied Recca "it is supposed to enable you to fight without your eyes."  
  
They then left the apartment and made it without being seen to the ramen restaurant. Ranma "read" the sign proclaiming the all-you-can-eat deal currently going on. Without further ado, they sat at a nearby table and placed their order, three of everything.  
  
"Are you sure?" asked the waitress  
  
Ranma thought for a second "Actually you're right, double that order."  
  
As soon as the food arrived, at least that which would fit on the table, the fight for food began. The waitress and other patrons backing away for fear of losing a limb to the vicious brawl. Soon the waitress realized that all she had to do was throw the bowl into the middle of the group and it would instantly be piled with the rest off to the side, completely drained. Naruto and Recca ate about one of everything, and Ranma finished off the meal. As they were walking out the door, the noticed the manager taking down the all-you-can-eat sign with tears in his eyes. Naruto then senses Iruka nearby and quickly double checks to make sure the hood and protector are sufficiently shielding his face. He pauses when he hears Iruka mention to another instructor that Naruto still hasn't shown up.  
  
'Heh, if only you knew Iruka, if only you knew.' Naruto thought. He then turned to catch up with the others.  
  
On the way back to the apartment they came across a person from the hidden village of the sand picking on a younger Konoha group. Ranma quickly used the Umisenken Invisibility technique and raced forward to tap a point on the Sand boys neck, instantly putting him to sleep. Returning to the others, Ranma dropped his technique and they returned to the apartment in peace.  
  
Four days later, The day of the initial test.  
  
The three from Team Animal are the first to arrive, sitting down in the back corner and beginning meditation. They are so engrossed in it that they don't notice the other test takers walk in, but they stop when they feel the instructors appear using Chakra.  
  
"Thanks for waiting. I'm the examiner for the first test of the Chuunin selection exam, Morino Ibiki." Claims an instructor with scars on his face and wearing a long black trench coat over his grey instructors uniform. "Hidden Sound stop doing as you please before the exam."  
  
"I'm sorry, it's our first time and we got overexcited."  
  
"Here's a good opportunity to say this, there will be no fighting without the permission of the examiner; even if permission is granted, killing your opponent will not be tolerated. Those pigs that disobey me will be failed immediately. Do I make myself clear?"  
  
"This test is starting to sound easy" one of the Hidden Sound confidently states.  
  
"We will now start the first test of the Chuunin exam, bring up your application, pick one of these tabs, and sit in the seat assigned to you. We will the hand out the exam problems."  
  
At this Naruto begins to get nervous. The other two feel this and use their chi to project a calming wave over him. Moving faster than even the instructor can see Ranma runs to the front drops off all three applications, filed under the names Kit, Cat, and Ryu which they decided to go by in order to hold Naruto's true power a secret until later. Using the Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken he quickly locates the numbers for the three seats they are currently occupying and before anyone can see him he returns to his seat, passing out the numbers. They then return to meditation. After every one else returns to their seats and the other instructorstake their seats Ibiki-sensei announces That any who haven't picked up a number and sat in the assigned seat by now must leave the building.  
  
"Hidden Animals you are dismissed for failure to follow orders. Nabungo- sensei please wake them up and escort them out." The instructor closest to them shake Ranma in an attempt to wake him, but then notices the numbers in front of them.  
  
"Ibiki-sensei, they are already seated correctly, they must have done it in the confusion."  
  
"Very well, leave them. There are many important rules to this first test. Questions will not be allowed, so listen carefully." Begins writing on the chalk board, "Rule one: you guys will all start off with ten points, this test is made up of ten questions, making each worth one point, and the test uses a subtraction system. Basically if you answer all ten questions correct, you keep all ten points. But say you miss three questions, you lose three points and will have seven points. The second rule: Whether you pass will be determined by the combined scores of you and your teammates. Now the most important rule, the third rule is that, during the exam if any of the testing officers catch you doing any sneaky activities, namely cheating, you will have two points subtracted for every offense. So during the exam, there will be some who will lose all points and be asked to leave. Realize that the pathetic ones who get caught cheating will be destroying themselves."  
  
"We'll be watching you guys." An instructor near the Hidden Animals informed them.  
  
"As Shinobi trying to reach the level of Chuunin, act as proud Shinobi should. And the final rule: Those who lose all their initial points during the test will be failed, along with their two teammates. And the final question will be handed out at the 45 minute mark. The exam will last one hour. Begin!"  
  
At this all the students flipped their paper over and furiously began to answer the questions. All the students that is except for three black cloaked figures sitting in the back continuing to meditate.  
  
'From their actions this must be a near impossible test.' Naruto signed benieth his cloak.  
  
'The examiner seemed to imply that cheating was the only way to finish it, so there must be some trick behind it.' Recca signaled using his Chi to pick up on Naruto's motions.  
  
'It's a psychological torture technique' Ranma gestured 'he put way too much emphasis on the importance of the test, also making sure to emphasize that getting caught cheating will make you lose points. By putting a test in front of us that ninjas of our level could not possibly hope to pass it would serve to cause us to cheat in hope that the one we are cheating off knows the right answers, and he will increase the preassure during the last question by saying something like "if you take this question and fail it, you will never be a Chuunin" just ignore it and continue building chi. Man I'm glad no one on this world uses chi, but then again chakra is very powerful so they probably didn't think to find another source of energy.'  
  
Recca and Naruto are dumfounded, shock would be evident on their faces if they were showing.  
  
'A teacher of mine once did a similar thing, besides I lived with Nabiki for two years, and I told you how she was.'  
  
'oh.' Was the only response from either of the others.  
  
With that they all return to meditation.  
  
'Those kids haven't even moved yet, they are completely calm throughout, pretty impressive for rookies. What are they up to? It doesn't even seem like they can see with the protectors over their eyes.' Ibiki pondered.  
  
All the other students began doing their techniques to cheat, and one by one the teams were dropped.  
  
"Looks like we have already dropped the incompetent ones. I will now give the final problem, since 45 minutes have passed. But before that, there's one thing I must say. There will be one special rule for this last question."  
  
'Here it comes' Ranma motioned to the others just as the door opened to admit a Sand student who went to on a bathroom break earlier, and the Instructor escorting him.  
  
"You're lucky. Your puppet show didn't have to go to waste. Oh well, sit down."  
  
The student complied, but the Animals noticed he dropped a tiny note to one of the other Sands on the way to his seat.  
  
"I will now explain. This is a hopeless rule. First you all will get to choose if you take the tenth problem or not." By now the air is so thick with nervous chi that the Animals can barely hold it away from them. Naruto, with the least expierence using chi, begins to falter until the others extend their shields to cover him as well. Together the manage to withstand the onslaught.  
  
"Choose? So what happens if we choose not to take it?" queries a Sand student, in fact it is the one who received the note.  
  
"If you choose not to take it, your points will be reduced to zero. In other words, you fail. Your two other teammates will fail along with you." This of course causes some gasping and determined outbursts. " and here is the other rule. If you choose to take it and get it wrong, you will lose the privilege to take the Chuunin exam forever!"  
  
"What kind of dumb rule is that," one of the leaf students exclaims "there are those here who have failed it before and returned."  
  
"You were unlucky. This year, I am the rule. That is why I gave you the option of quitting. Those who are not confident may choose not to take it and choose to take the exam next year or the year after that. Let us begin. Those who will not be taking the tenth raise your hands, after we confirm your numbers, we will ask you to leave." The tension now is beginning to seep through the shield erected by the Animals.  
  
"I.I.I quit! I won't take it!" one student exclaims  
  
"Number 50 fail, numbers 130 and 111 along with him" came the response.  
  
"Me too." "Me as well." And many students unwilling to risk the chance of failure began to raise their hands. As each number was called that student left the room, hanging their head. With less people in the room the chi force exerted by the Animals swept the room in a wave of confidence  
  
'oops too much energy, we weren't ready for such a void opening up, oh well too late to fix it now.' Ranma thought  
  
'What was that? All of the sudden I felt more confident in myself, it looks like it effected the students as well. It seems to have wiped out everyone's uncertainty. 78 left, that's more left than I expected. Looks like there's no point in waiting any longer.' Dertemined Ibiki, "Nice determination. Then for the first exam, everyone here. Passes!"  
  
"Wait! What's the meaning of that? We pass already? What about the tenth question?" questions a pink haired Leaf student.  
  
"Sakura." whispers Naruto in a voice low enough only Ranma and Recca can hear him.  
  
"There was no such ting to begin with" chuckles Ibiki with a big grin, "or you can call the choice to risk it and stay or play it safe and leave the final question." He then goes on to explain what Ranma already explained. "The first exam of the Chuunin selection ends now, I wish you luck." No sooner had that been said than a window shattered inward and a cloth was held to the ceiling by two kunais.  
  
"No time for being happy now," exclaims a woman standing in front of the cloth on which was written: Second examiner, Mitarashi Anko is here. "I am the second examiner Mitarashi Anko. Let's go onto the next exam. Follow me!" she proclaims raising her fist in a victory gesture. All the students look on dumbfounded.  
  
"Grasp the atmosphere" Ibiki advises  
  
"That examiner is like Naruto" Sakura says in a low voice "it's too bad he ran away, I didn't realize how much he meant to me until he was gone." Naruto managed to hear this and his ears perked up "of course if I had been looking forward to this my entire life, then failed the Genin exam I would probably run too." He nearly face faulted at this.  
  
"78?" Anko questioned "Ibiki you let 26 teams pass? The first exam must have been too soft."  
  
"It looks like there are a lot of excellent students this time."  
  
"Oh well, I'm going to make more than half the teams fail in the next exam. I'm getting excited. I will explain the details tomorrow. We will go somewhere else tomorrow so ask your Jounin teachers about the rally point and time. That is all. Dismissed. Team Animal I need to speak with you after the other students leave." Once all the other students filed out, Anko walked over to Ranma's group. "I understand you are from a new clan and do not have an examiner."  
  
"That is correct" replies Recca, being the most diplomatic of the group  
  
"Well this envelope contains the rally point and time, destroy it after reading it. Also I am to ask about your names. Kit, Cat and Ryu are not your real names, are they?"  
  
"Those are our chosen clan names, our true names will be kept a secret until we choose to disclose them."  
  
"Okay, any specific reason you chose those?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
".Can you tell me it?"  
  
"you may find out in due time, but we chose not to inform anyone as of yet."  
  
"okay."  
  
"we will be leaving unless you have anything more pertinent to ask."  
  
"No, but hold on a minute, I want to find out more about your clan."  
  
"Anko-sensei." A student calls from the doorway  
  
"Wait one moment" she tells the student as she turned to see who it was. Turning back the three she asks "Where is your village located?" she then notices that no one is there any more. Shrugging it off she gathers the tests and returns them to Ibiki.  
  
Looking at them Ibiki is surprised to find that they haven't had anything written on them except for their names. "what an interesting group, they saw through the test right away, I will have to remember to watch them."  
  
The next day all the remaining teams are gathered in front of the Forbidden Area. A fence surrounds a forest and Anko arrives to explain the test.  
  
"This is where the second test will take place. The 44th training area also known as the Forest of Death."  
  
Authors notes:  
  
That was significantly longer than the first chapter. The next should come out within a week, but no gaurentees. This one took me almost two days of writing to make. I also need a prereader or two who are knowledgeable about these series. I know that the characters seem somewhat out of character, but I think they would be somewhat subdued after two lost their worlds, and the third found out everyone thought him to be a demon, including the one he most trusted.  
  
Notes to reviewers:  
  
VuDragon88: Thanks for the review, I had been thinking about this among other stories for sometime but they were crossovers no one did, or only did one or two chapters. Examples of possible future stories include: Ranma/Generator Gawl, Ranma/Gargoyles, and Ranma/King of Bandits. Also I will probably try the Ranma/SM crossover challenge just to see what I come up with.  
  
Aagan the third: Bite me, Flames are ok as long as they are constructive, that was a personal attack and to you I say "If you don't like it, don't read it." 


	3. Kits, Cats, and Ryu Chapter 3: Chuunin E...

Disclaimer: I own none of these, in fact I have probably taken some ideas from other fanfic writers, but I have read so much that I can't remember for sure. If you feel like suing me, go ahead, but I must warn you my third bank account just closed for over drafting, I recently stopped going to a university and thus will be in debt for the rest of my life, and it will cost you far more to actually sue me than you have any hope of receiving. Once again and work inserted here is not mine and is the property of its respective owner. Anything not claimed is mine.  
  
All the remaining teams are gathered in front of the Forbidden Area. A fence surrounds a forest and Anko arrives to explain the test.  
  
"This is where the second test will take place. The 44th training area also known as the Forest of Death."  
  
Chapter 3  
  
Chuunin Exam  
  
A rock like box began to sneak up on the Animals, all three sweat drop as they realize it is someone's attempt to sneak up on them.  
  
"Konohamaru I know you are in there," yells Sakura "what are you doing here?"  
  
At that a series of three explosions comes from the box, pushing up smoke. Choughing comes from within the smoky area, and one can hear "too many explosives." As the smoke clears, it reveals three Leaf children. They realize their position and begin introductions.  
  
"Sexiness of an adult, female ninja Moegi!"  
  
"I love assembling models, Udon!"  
  
"The villages number one genius ninja, Konohamaru!"  
  
"With the three of us together, Konohamaru Squad is here!" they chant together.  
  
"Hey, you guys what are you doing?" yells Anko  
  
"We are here to write an article on the Chuunin exam for our school paper." Explains Konohamaru.  
  
"Oh yeah, I forgot Hokage-sama told me about that!" Anko replies, scratching her head. In a louder voice she declares "All right! We will have a ten minute break! I need at least one person from each team to come forward and be interviewed! Those involved, please bear with it and help out!"  
  
From each team a person is chosen to be interviewed by the young group, when it comes around to the Animals, Recca is chosen.  
  
"Who are you?" begins Konohamaru  
  
"Ryu of Team Animal."  
  
"Who else is in your team?"  
  
"Cat, and Kit."  
  
"What are your real names?"  
  
"."  
  
"Oookay, Why are you dressed completely in black?"  
  
"We are ninja."  
  
"Ummm. right. Okay, How do you think you will do in the exam?"  
  
"We are the best."  
  
"Could you give us some detail about yourselves?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Riiiiight. well how about your clan then, I hear it's new."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Okay, Um. we don't have any more questions for you, is there something you would like to share with us?"  
  
"No." with that, Recca rejoined his group. The interviews now over, Konohamaru and friends left the staging ground.  
  
"What a creepy place." muttered Sakura  
  
"You'll soon experience why it's called the Forest of Death." Anko stated with a chuckle. "Now before we start the second exam, I will need you all to sign these release forms. If you want to take the exam you must sign these."  
  
"Why?" asks a curious Leaf  
  
"Because there will be deaths in this one and if I don't have you sing these it will be all my responsibility. I will explain the second exam while you are signing. Long story short, you will attempt the ultimate survival. There is a tower in the middle of the practice area, ten miles from any edge. and you must reach it while carrying one of each of these." She pulls out two scrolls, one marked Heaven, the other marked Earth. "26 teams made it here, 13 will get the Heaven scroll, 13 will get the Earth. Simply put you must steal them from each other. So half the teams will automatically fail. But, there is also a time limit. 120 hours after we start, the test will end."  
  
"Five days?!" one of the Gennin girls exclaims.  
  
'That's Ino, Sakura's rival.' Naruto signs  
  
"What will we do about food?!" a fat kid next to her despairingly queries.  
  
'Chouji, he is always eating'  
  
"The forest is full of food." Anko simply puts "You just need to kill it first."  
  
"No!" Chouji wails  
  
"Idiot that's why they call it survival." Reprimands Ino.  
  
"So not only will some people fail by not having a scroll, some will die from the harshness of the course. Three things will disqualify you: one, if you don't reach the tower with both scrolls within the time limit; Two, if you lose a teammate or have a teammate unable to continue; three, you must not look inside either scroll until you reach the tower, for anyone that does, it will be a surprise. Explanations done. Exchange your forms for a scroll over there," pointing at a booth with three examiners sitting in it. "we will then choose gates to start out at. A final word of advice: don't die."  
  
The examiners pull a curtain over the front over the front of the booth to prevent the teams from knowing who got what scroll. One person from each team entered the booth at a time to exchange for the scrolls.  
  
"Once you get a scroll, follow an instructor to your respective gates. We will all start in 30 minutes. Animals you are to enter the forest here."  
  
30 minutes later all the gates were opened and the students allowed inside. Once a good distance from the gate, Naruto spoke up.  
  
"Rec. Ryu what scroll did we get?"  
  
"Earth." "Well, we got that one, and all these." Ranma entered, displaying 12 more Earth, and 13 heaven.  
  
"How did you get all those?!" Naruto practically screamed  
  
"Quiet down! I used a combination Umisenken and Hidden Weapons to steal them as the different teams left the booth. They were to busy trying to not give away which scroll they had to notice that they had none."  
  
"Let's hurry to the middle quick!" Exclaimed Naruto.  
  
"No, let's have fun with this first," Replied Recca, "besides you wouldn't wantto remove all the challengers for the Arena later would you?"  
  
"I guess not, but what do we do?"  
  
"We could start be creating an extremely clear trail to the tower, climb that tree there to verify it's direction." Naruto did as he was told, and pointed in the exact direction of the tower.  
  
"Okay, my turn" Ranma enthused. He took a horse stance and began building his chi. With a swipe of his arm a 20 foot wide vacuum blade was loosed towards the tower. When the dust settled, a clear path was made directly to the base of the tower. "that took a little more than I thought." He mumbled as he passed out.  
  
"That'll work." Said Recca, Awestruck. Naruto could just nod his head. "Anyway pick him up, and we will rush to the tower. When the other teams discover they no longer have their scrolls, they will not hesitate to plant traps around it." Naruto agreed and they began to head to the tower at full speed.  
  
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"What was that?!" screamed Sakura, "It sounded like half the forest crashed."  
  
"I don't know, but let's get moving, we need to recover our scroll and obtain another." Replied Sauske  
  
"The tower will be the most likely place to do so." Informed Rei  
  
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"Man he sure knows how to get everyone's attention" groused Recca.  
  
"I just hope he wakes up soon, he is heavy" grumbled Naruto.  
  
"We only have about a mile left, if we hurry we should be able to make it before any others."  
  
"But what will we do when we get there?"  
  
"Dig"  
  
"Huh? I don't understand."  
  
"We use the Bakusai Tenketsu to create pit traps. Then we set the trees on fire to force others onto the ground. Some of the holes we dig we put the scrolls into and lay an illusion over. Those that break it will get the scrolls and be worthy of fighting us."  
  
"Oh. Sounds like fun, I hope we can watch from the tower."  
  
"I doubt it, we will probably be kept confined in order to prevent further involvement with the test."  
  
"Too bad."  
  
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"What the crap happened here?!" Sakura screamed upon entering the area Ranma blasted away, "what could have caused such devastation?"  
  
"I don't know, but they might," Rei stated, pointing to a pair of black clad figures carrying a third figure. "at least now we have a clear path to the tower."  
  
"Let's just hope we don't have to fight them."  
  
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When they reached the tower, Ranma was jut starting to awaken. They quickly explained the plan to him, and began to put it into practice; Naruto making the pit traps, Recca torching the trees, and Ranma hiding the scrolls. Once finished they allowed the trees to burn to nothing but ash for 30 feet away from the tower and then Recca pulled his fire back. They entered the tower with only the two scrolls.  
  
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"Why are they setting the trees on fire?" questioned Rei  
  
"Forget that, how are they making those pits with only a touch?" Sakura queried  
  
"Look at the third, he is placing scrolls everywhere, he must have taken them all before we entered the forest, but how?" pondered Sauske "they just entered the tower, lets not stand here asking questions, let's get some scrolls and get in that tower."  
  
And they did just that.  
  
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Inside the tower they found a sign on the wall saying "If lacking in Heaven, seek wisdom, be prepared. If lacking in Earth, run in the fields, seek advantages. With both Heaven and Earth danger becomes safety. These are the principals that guide a "something something"  
  
"What's that mean?" Naruto asked  
  
"Probably means the scrolls" put in Recca, "just open them."  
  
Without much trepidation Ranma took Earth and Naruto took Heaven and proceded to open them. When the scrolls began to smoke they threw them to the ground, when they touched, Ibiki appeared.  
  
"You finished fast, although your methods seem to be lacking in the stealth department. You pass the second exam. Please wait for the others to finish then meet us at the testing arena. Dismissed."  
  
5 days later 21 people showed up at the arena.  
  
"First off, congratulations on passing the first test. It will, sadly be a long time before we can use that forest again due to the destruction of a third of it."  
  
Mumbles of curiosity ran through the crowd.  
  
"Hokage-sama will now explain the third test."  
  
"Before I explain the third exam, I will explain the real reason behind it. Why do we have the allied nations take it together?"  
  
"To replace all out war with simple tournaments, at the same time deciding the price any given country can charge for their services." Interrupted Recca.  
  
"Well yes. Okay now to explain the exam."  
  
"Excuse me Hokage-sama, please allow me, Gekkou Hayate, to explain." An sickly man appearing before the Hokage requested.  
  
"Go ahead."  
  
"Under normal circumstances we only have a few challengers left by now, but it seems that this year there are many who deserve the right to fight for the rank of Chuunin. Because of time constraints and treaties made we have decided that rather than have you fight one on one, we will have team v. team battles. This will allow you to demonstrate your effectiveness working together. I will now call out the matches. Match one will be Team Ino, consisting of Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, and Akimiji Chouji versus Team Sound, Zaku Abumi, Dosu Kinuta, and Kin Tsuchi. Macth two will be Team Akamaru, Inuzuka Kiba, Hyuga Hinata, and Aburame Shino vs. Team Sand, Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari. Match three will be Team Gai, Hyuga Neji, Tenten, and Rock Lee Vs. Team Animal, Kit, Cat, and Ryu. Team Sauske, Uchiha Sauske, Haruno Sakura, and Hina Rei will have a pass on the first round of combat. Please enter the stadium."  
  
The teams walk through the double doors to find an arena about a hundred yards in diameter surrounded by bleacher style seating. They notice roped off areas for the challengers, and behind that are the fans for the different groups. All the seats are packed with the exception of the Animals area.  
  
'Eh, no one has ever heard off us before, this is pretty much to be expected." Signs Recca  
  
'At least we won't have people bugging us during the other fights.' Responds Ranma  
  
"Fighters please take your seats, Team Ino and Team Sound take your places for the first match." The teams do so, getting in ready postions, "The match will begin on my signal." Raising his arm he holds it for a minute, the crowd goes silent, he drops it, "Begin!"  
  
Chouji begins growing in size through his Meat Tank ability, Ino begins the body switch, and Shikamaru starts extending his shadow. The three Sound ninjas race forward in hopes of putting their opponents down before they can make effective use of their Chakra. Ino takes control of Tsuchi while Shikamaru's shadow meets with Abumi. Chouji manages to roll on to Kinuta when both controlled fighters surprise Kinuta with punches. Being unable to fight anymore, Team Sound is removed.  
  
"Well, that was disappointing." Ranma grumbles, "didn't even last two minutes."  
  
"Now for *cough cough* round two, Would Team Akamaru and Team Sand please take the field." Once in position and ready he drops his hand "Begin!"  
  
Gaara alone walks forward pulling the stopper out of the gourd mounted on his back. Kiba and Akamaru use their beast clone skill to change their forms into mostly human were-wolf type creatures they run towards Gaara with the intent of attacking but are swatted away when his sand shield comes up. Shino simply spreads his arms as if daring Gaara to attack him. Hinata brings her hands to the sides of her eyes and with a cry of "Byakugan!" is able to see Gaara's Chakra openings. All three teammates nod to each other and rush Gaara. Shino releases some of the bugs at Gaara, but soon finds that they cannot get past his sand shield. Hinata punches the sand repeatedly and forces her own Chakra into Gaara's system through his open points.  
  
"Wow, now there is a girl, a good fighter, and an excellent strategist. If physical force won't get through, use their own energy systems against them." Mumbles Ranma, slightly too loudly for both teammates hear him.  
  
"Ranma has a crush, Ranma has a crush," they chant in unison.  
  
"Shut up, you are ruining our image. Leave me alone or it's the neko-ken for both of you." They fall silent.  
  
The sand begins to fall as Shino's bugs eat the Chakra stored in the shield. Gaara explodes his shield outward knocking them off their feet. He raises his hand and calls out "Desert Coffin!" the sand quickly surrounds the members of team Akamaru. After a minute it becomes obvious that they cannot get out and the match is called.  
  
"Match two winner: Team Sand. Will the participants for match three Teams Animal and Gai take your places. Begin!"  
  
The animals uncloak their hands two with paper, one with scissors.  
  
"Looks like I win this one!" Ranma proudly exclaims "Now do not interfere in my fight." Team Gai face faults at this.  
  
"We know, just hurry up" Naruto replies, obviously upset.  
  
"They were playing rock, paper, scissors to see who gets to fight us?" Lee asks from the floor "I guess we should do the same, it is only fair."  
  
"I'll go!" announces Tenten pulling out a set of bonbori  
  
"Are you an Amazon?" Ranma asks her  
  
"Huh? No, why do you ask?"  
  
".no reason." 'great a weapon user, this will at least be a little fun, I'm glad I kept all Mousse's weapons from out fights.'  
  
The female ninja rushes at Ranma bonbori positioned at head level, but when she reaches him all she sees is a flash of silver and the heads of her weapons are missing.  
  
"I'm sorry, I broke your toys, I have some replacements if you want them."  
  
"No thanks, I make it a point not to accept weapons from strangers."  
  
"I insist" Ranma says with a smile just before he begins pulling chains, swords, spears, bonbori, and every other kind of conceivable weapon from weapon space, even a few duck shaped potty trainers. In less than two seconds there was a 20 by 20 foot pile of weapons spread over the poor girl, none doing damage, but sucessfully pinning her to the ground none the less. Needless to say the people in the stands were stunned.  
  
"Where did he hide all of those? That's unlike any technique I have ever seen." Lee gasps in amazement and a little bit of fear.  
  
"Well that was short. Tell you what the next one of you to attack me can have a free hit. How does that sound?"  
  
"My turn," Neji stated in a voice that brooked no argument "he is too cocky, I'll take him down a notch." Lee merely gestured for him to go. To Ranma he said "you are going to wish you hadn't offered that, but I will take you up on it." Invoking his Byakugan he charged Ranma and proceded to close all his Chakra openings.  
  
"Neat trick, but it will take more than that to stop a member of Animal." He then let his battle aura flow into the visible spectrum. A blue silver glow surrounded Ranma, and began to expand for an inch or two.  
  
"H..How? I closed all your Chakra openings, you shouldn't be able to do this." Neji faltered. "It's impossible!"  
  
"Yes you managed to close all my Tsubos (Chakra openings) but this is not Chakra." Ranma stated as he gathered his energy into his hands, "it's over. Mokou Takibisha!" A silver-blue ball about the size of a basketball shot from his hands and struck Neji in the chest, picking him up off the ground and smashing him into a wall. Neji was ko'd on impact and managed to leave a body impression. "Last but not least, we have Fuzzy Eyebrows."  
  
"Don't call me that, ever! You took my rival out, and only I was supposed to do that, I will now defeat you in a shining moment of victory." He began removing the wrappings from his hands. "I can see that I will not be able to defeat you the normal way, so I must resort to opening the first gate." His body began to glow blue and Chakra spun around him like a snake "INITIAL LOTUS!" he shot forward and managed to hit Ranma once, removing his cloak due to the pressure created on his pull back after that Ranma let a cry of "Katchuu Tenshin Amaguriken!" and managed to block the next 1,499 punches directed at him.  
  
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"We finally get to see what one of them is like under the cloak" Ibiki states  
  
"He's a Hunk!" Anko enthuses with hearts in her eyes "It's criminal to hide a body like that!" Hokage just shakes his head as the other instructors sweat drop. Strangely enough this comment and others like it were not uncommon at this time and women began to flood the Animal stands.  
  
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"You're fast." Ranma tells Lee  
  
"You haven't seen any thing yet, Opening the second gate!" more Chakra flows around him.  
  
"I may have to change forms to have the speed to defeat you, but make no mistake I will defeat you." With that Ranma becomes Ranko, many guys begin drooling.  
  
"Putting up an illusion of a beautiful girl will not defeat me!"  
  
"Why don't you test it out? Scared?" Lee once again rushes Ranma, but this time is unable to land a single punch due to Ranma again using his speed technique  
  
"No more playing games, Opening the third and fourth gates!" More Chakra builds up and the air around him turns red. "EXTREME LOTUS!" 'must finish this fast, I don't know how long my body can sustain this pressure'  
  
'Oh crap!' thinks Ranma 'um.. too fast to block guess I'll have to change' he then changes to his Male Feral form, unfortunatly Lee hits him into the air before he can do anything else. For the next three minutes all that can be seen is Ranma bouncing around in the air, seemingly hitting nothing, but still taking damage. With a cry of "PRIMARY LOTUS" Lee smashed Ranma into the ground, creating a dust cloud that swept the arena. Lee landed about ten feet from Ranma and fell to his knees, right foot and arm damaged from the last blow. In the silence that followed one could hear Ranma whisper "Bakusai Tenketsu revised: Ground Chaser" as he placed his finger on the ground. A second later the ground around Lee exploded, and combined with the damage done to his muscles from the Lotuses, it was enough to K.O. him. Ranma, still conscious but barely able to move a finger and heavily damaged was declared the winner, and his teammates carried him off the field, stopping only to retrieve his protector, but leaving the cloak where it lay. His weapons were stacked in the stands near the Animal box.  
  
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"To withstand the Primary Lotus and still gather enough energy to use an attack, what is he made of?" Gai-sensei asked of Kakashi-sensei  
  
"I don't know, but I couldn't begin to copy his moves, they use an energy completely foreign to me. Even my sharingan was of no use." Kakashi responded "but what suprises me more is that none of those transformations were illusions, he really has more than one form. The reason behind the clan name makes more sense now. I wonder what the others turn into?"  
  
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"Sir you must allow us to take him to the doctors, he may die if we don't." an instructor told Recca.  
  
"No, he will regain concousness soon enough, and he will be fully healed by the end of the week"  
  
"Sir that is impossible, he will be in a coma for at least a week, and lucky to be fully healed in a month."  
  
"n..no doctors. I've had worse." Ranma slurred, barely awake, but regaining strength.  
  
The instructor looked at him, nodded, and slowly walked away, clearly in shock. The girls near him started deluging him with questions, not noticing the obvious hardship it was to stay awake.  
  
"Ladies please, give him a few minutes to recover and return his weapons to storage, then you can speak to him, if you don't allow him the necessary time, I will arrange for you to leave."  
  
'heh, Recca the diplomat' thought Ranma  
  
Just then the voice of Hayate-sensei echoed through the chamber, "Ladies and Gentlemen, we will now have an hour's break, then we will begin the second round of combat."  
  
Authors note:  
  
Yea, I changed the fight structure around, but I figured that this would be better than the alternative. I am still looking for pre-readers for this, so if you are interested in that please say so in a review. Thank you to all the readers who took the time to review this. I'm thinking of pairing Ranma up with Hinata or Anko, but am not sure. Respond with ideas for any pairings for any of the three Animals, but be sure to include a reason or they will be discounted. Ranma will NOT be paired with a guy.  
  
Littlepet: All three felt they could trust the others. This is Ranma, Recca, and Naruto, of course they pick up techniques fast. Plus Naruto had to show Ranma the transformation technique before he could manipulate Jusenkyo, it required a minimal amount of Chakra knowledge, something that wasn't used on Ranma's world.  
  
Kura-Kun: Maybe I do, Maybe I do. No, I guess not. Actually I just didn't notice it was switched off, but now I can accept unsigned reviews, though I still prefer them to be signed.  
  
VuDragon88: It was similar up to this point because of the lack of influence Ranma and Recca had on this world, but now it will begin to diverge a bit. Oh and Ochimaru will not show up, I just don't like him.  
  
Tetramatthew: Yea it would be funny there, but if you notice in the anime/manga Ranma never hits on him. Anko has no such reservations with hitting on him though, as you can see. 


End file.
